Readers opine about Pam Bondi, the economy, Somalia and more

August 25, 2011

According to a recent editorial, the problem with Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is her lack of management skills. The fact that her office fires two highly skilled employees who successfully prosecuted organizations for corrupt practices is not the problem. One has to wonder what her office wanted them to do other than investigate illegal acts. Good management skills require that you fire the people who don't do the job the way you want.

The employee who left to work for a company that his office was investigating is not unusual. He probably left for more money. He also may have seen that Bondi wouldn't be following up on what he was investigating and he would have to look for future employment. The problem is that this attorney general has an agenda being followed by those who work for her, which is good management.

I guess the reason Bernie Madoff was allowed to run his Ponzi scheme for eight years more than he should have was due to the fact that the head of the SEC had bad management skills.

Stanley Jakalow, Coconut Creek

Cutting pensions ruins lives

After reading the articles about the city of Hollywood wanting to change the pensions of city workers and contract out city services, I felt compelled to write.

I am a retired police officer from Youngstown, Ohio, and know a little bit about pensions and city services.

Yes, minor changes should be made for newer employees' pensions, but to cut pensions of people who have worked for years and only have a few years to work before they retire is nothing less than destroying people's lives.

When the city cuts my taxes by 25 percent, I will vote to cut city workers pay 25 percent. City workers have already taken a 12.5 percent pay cut. Think about cutting your salary or pension by 25% percent. I know I could not afford to take that kind of cut in pay.

I also know what happens with cities contracting out services. You do not save a dime, and your services rot. Let me be the first to say, if these cuts should go to the voters, I will be the first to vote against them, and I believe you should, too.

Dennis Puskarcik, Hollywood

Flatten tax, cut deductions

I am a middle-class, taxpaying American. By the way, the Bush-era tax break also provided a tax break for the middle class.

Let's talk about "fair and balanced." The people who pay no or few taxes will always vote to raise taxes on the rich because it does not come out of their pockets. This is an easy vote.

The answer: Let's get rid of every tax deduction and loophole, and then lower the rates. Have everyone pay a minimum amount of tax even if it is half of 1 percent. Yes, that includes getting rid of all deductions, including corporate jets. It also includes mortgages and personal deductions.

Another possibility is to add a half of 1 percent national sales tax so that everyone has skin in the game. Let everyone pay taxes and see if they change their mind about how the government wastes money.

Jeff Beck, Pompano Beach

Did you read spending bill?

Without taking a position on "Obamacare," I want to ask this of those Republicans in both the House and Senate who criticized the 2,000-plus-page bill being passed without being read: How many of you read the bill just passed increasing the debt limit while cutting almost a trillion dollars from the budget? In short, do those Democrats and Republicans who increased the national debt limit know what was cut from the budget and the implications associated with this act? My real concern is if they even care about the implications associated with the budget cut.

Howard Chaiet, Lake Worth

West trashing U.S. ideals

Congressman Allen West excuses his inflammatory rhetoric by citing his early years in Atlanta's inner city and pointing out that "trash-talking" is "what we do in America."

At a time when parents and schools are trying to combat bullying, Rep. West thinks it was just part of the political game to "make Ron Klein afraid to come out of his own house."

At a time when teens see little disincentive to planning Columbine-style attacks on their schools and a deranged individual in Arizona thought it was OK to shoot his congressional representative and several bystanders, including a child, Rep. West see nothing wrong with exhorting supporters to "grab their muskets" and "fix bayonets."

If he wants to compare himself to Harriet Tubman, fine: harmless (if eccentric) freedom of speech. Vitriolic insults to fellow elected officials? Makes one a lousy role model, but it's still free speech.

Violent imagery excused as all-American trash-talking? I think most Americans are better than that. I would like to see our elected officials show a whole lot more common sense, and maturity, than that.

Gail Bennett, Fort Lauderdale

Somalia needs USA's help

I am the first one to say, "Stop sending money to other countries to help their economy, and let's spend it on our own people." However, when seeing the many articles regarding the famine and death in Somalia, I say, "Why can't they be helped with food and medical supplies?"

Their militia has apparently seized families' crops and livestock, causing the above problem. Our country has always been there for the underdog, and I think it is time the USA and other countries step in and stop this heart-wrenching problem.

A recent article said President Obama is on a bus tour "in which he is sympathizing with Americans damaged and frustrated by the slow pace of the economic recovery." If he truly wants to sympathize with the pain of many Americans, he should be traveling on a Greyhound bus and not in an excessively spectacular $1.1 million penthouse on wheels!